Their Own Answer —
The People’s Temple Revisited
Untold stories. Unheard voices. A reckoning long overdue.
Their Own Answer is a documentary podcast that reexamines the story of The People’s Temple—not through the lens of its infamous leader, but through the lives of those who followed him in search of something better.
Often erased from the headlines, over 80% of People’s Temple members were Black—many of them women and children—drawn in by promises of racial equity, protection, and community at a time when the American dream remained out of reach.
Through never-before-heard archival recordings, intimate survivor interviews, and deeply reported storytelling, Their Own Answer unearths the hopes, fears, and ultimately the humanity of those who joined the Temple—and what we’ve all been taught to forget in the shadow of Jonestown.
This is not a story about blind faith. It’s about what people were running from—and what they were running toward.
